Here are the pictures of the whale teeth I carved. The one on the left is scrimshaw. The santa is carved. These were fun projects and very challenging to do. I am now working on two more whale teeth for the same customer. I wish I had some whale teeth of my own to carve and keep. They are really hard, and polish nicely.

This is a picture of the double cypress knee I told you I was carving, Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. I had a fun time, but it was a little challenging since I don't often carve ladies.

Speaking of challenging, I just carved a couple of whale teeth for a customer. He wanted a santa carved in one and a ship scrimshawed in the other. Scrimshaw is a very old art form of scratching images into ivory or bone, then apply ink to the surface, and wiping away. The ink is left in the scratched lines. I will show a picture of these latter.

Hope everyone is getting ready for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Have a great day.

Carving pumpkins can be really fun. They are much softer than wood and you can play with the faces. They don't have to be isometrical and nothing has to match. I don't carve all the way throught the pumpkin and after I'm done I spray it with and acrylic clear spray. This way it will last for a couple of weeks, or longer if the weather is cool. Try carving pumpkins, squash, sweet potatoes, or any other similar vegetable and have fun. It's a great family activity.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Spool Santas

These are all santas I have carved from different spools. Most of the spools are from old textile mills, but some are just thread spools. I like to carve on all kinds of antique objects. I have carved on old potatoe mashers, cullander pins, rolling pins, and about anything wood I can find. I hunt antique stores and garage sales.

Yesterday, as almost every Saturday, I went garaging. I found a rolling pin that was pretty neat, so I will be carving that soon.

Next to carving, and painting, I love garaging. What fun!

I'm Learning

Thank you all for being so kind. I am completely computer ill-literate. My husband had to show me how to turn on the computer. My daughter helped me set up the blog site. My other daughter helped me, by phone, to add this post. Maybe someday I'll get it by myself. Even the language used is foreign to me. When someone says open the window, I'm thinking it isn't hot in here.
Back to carving. I try to carve, paint, or draw every day. I have friends who like to come over and play at my house too. We carve, or paint and have a great time. I am working on a double cypress knee now. A cypress knee is part of the root of the cypress tree. They grow in swamps around the tree. I get them from Louisiana. They are cone shaped and the double one I am working on is like two cones joined together. I am carving Santa in one and Mrs. Santa in the other. Hopefully I will have a picture in the future.
Thanks for your support.

LITTLE FAT MEN

These jolly fellows are carved from basswood, and sugar pine, old spools from textile mills, and aspen. I used hand tools--knives, and gouges. I paint them with acrylic paints and mix my own formula for antiquing them.

They like to hang out in the forest and tell stories of old times.